Stephane Quintal is the new NHL senior vice president of player safety.
That should be big news, right? Quintal, who has been serving as the head of player safety on an interim basis since April, when Brendan Shanahan left to become President of the Toronto Maple Leafs, has earned the praise of Gary Bettman and seems to be experienced enough to properly step into the role.
He handed down three suspensions last year during the playoffs – two games to Brandon Bollig for boarding Keith Ballard, three games to Brent Seabrook for charging David Backes and seven games to Matt Cooke for kneeing Tyson Barrie.
The problem with this isn’t really Quintal’s fault. It’s the simple fact that the league needs consistency in its player safety department. Players need to know that they’ll be punished for certain types of hits and that the punishments will be consistent in terms of suspension-length and reasoning. But no matter how much Quintal wants to make that happen, it won’t.
When Shanahan stepped in, the move was lauded. After all, who better to judge vicious, suspension-worthy hits than one of the game’s greatest power forwards, a guy who was just as likely to punch you in the mug as he was to score a goal? But there was more outcry than applause during Shanahan’s tenure and it’s little wonder he bolted for much greener pastures in Toronto.
The problem remains. It doesn’t matter who is in charge because, ultimately, the NHL still pulls the strings. Do you think a star winger who delivers a questionable hit is going to get the same punishment as some fourth-line plug who does the same? Do you really think Sidney Crosby would get the same treatment as Daniel Carcillo? It’s understandable why the league thinks that way, but when there’s a constant message of “things need to change”, you can’t change it by showing obvious favoritism.
Ideally, the senior vice president of player safety would be able to act on his own accord and hand out punishment without the NHL Board of Directors and the commish himself breathing down their neck, but that’s just not how this system works.
Until there is a trend of consistency, forgive me for thinking that this is just a sideways move. Good for Quintal, but the league needs someone who can do their job without being jerked around by the puppeteers above them.
Hopefully, Quintal can be the one to buck that trend.
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